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MOTHER FOX HAD TAKEN THEM OUT 
FOR A LITTLE PLAY. PAGE 48. 


.r 












/ 

THE ROUND-TOP BOOKS 

MOTHER FOX 

OF 

ROUND-TOP 


By 

ELLEN D. WANGNER 

Author of “Bobby Lynx of Round-Top," “The 
Busy Beavers of Round-Toff etc . 



/ 

ILLUSTRATIONS BY 

HENRY WANGNER 


NEW YORK 

THE NOURSE COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



Copyright, 1921, 


BY 

THE NOURSE COMPANY 



RUG-8 71 ; 


©CI.A622352 


CONTENTS 


I. Mother Fox and Her Family . 7 

II. Mother Fox Goes Hunting . .19 

III. Mother Fox and the Goose . 31 

IY. Black Brother Has an Adven¬ 
ture .45 

Y. Mother Fox Plays Dead . . 55 

YI. How Mother Nature Painted 

the Hill.69 

YII. Mother Fox’s Escape . . .81 


Till. Black Brother is Caught in a 

Trap.S7 


3 



» 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Mother Fox had taken them out for a 

little play .... Ft'ovMspiece 

She had wandered far that night hunting 

for some large birds or rabbits to eat 13 

Something white caught her eye, close by 
one of the tall strawstacks in the barn¬ 
yard .36 

She dropped suddenly,full length, as if she 

were dead !.61 

There, right beside the coop, was his 

mother!.106 


5 



CHAPTER I 


MOTHER FOX AND HER FAMILY" 








Mother Fox of Round-Top 


CHAPTER I 

MOTHER FOX AND HER FAMILY 

A red, bushy tail waved for a moment 
among a pile of rocks and then slowly dis¬ 
appeared as Mrs. Fox pushed down into 
her underground home on the sunny 
slopes of Round-Top. It was a very 
lovely tail and Mrs. Fox was very proud 
of it, pulling the burrs and stick-tights out 
of it each day with her sharp teeth and 
keeping it as fluffy as she knew how. 

It was a beautiful spring day and on 
Round-Top the rocky slopes were bright 
with spring blossoms. The wind-flowers 

nodded gaily in the warm breeze that blew 

9 


10 MOTHEB FOX OF KOUNB-TOP 


up from the marshes at the bottom of the 
hill, where the frogs were croaking and 
trilling like a fairy orchestra. Bees went 
gaily buzzing as they flitted from flower to 
flower, and the air hummed and sang with 
the hundreds of insects that flew happily 
about in the sunshine. 

It was very warm on the hilly slopes, 
for the leaves were too small to give pro¬ 
tection from the very hot sun, and Mrs. 
Fox, in her heavy coat, was very glad to 
get into her cool home that had been hol¬ 
lowed out underneath some huge, over¬ 
hanging rocks. 

There were manv other fox homes on 

& 

Round-Top Hill, but none was as care¬ 
fully chosen and beautifully planned as 
was this home of Mrs. Fox. By the set¬ 
tlers in the farther end of the valley, she 
was called “ Old Silver-Tip.” Unlike 
any other fox they had ever seen, the 
whole lower half of her tail was a gleam- 




MOTHEE FOX AND HEK FAMILY 11 


ing white. She was known for something 
else, too. Among all the settlers, she was 
considered to be the wisest, slyest, most 
cunning old fox that had ever been seen 
on Round-Top! 

Many and many were the traps that 
had been set for Mother Silver-Tip and 
many and many another fox had been 
caught in these very same traps, but 
Mother Silver-Tip was too wise to be 
trapped in any of them. 

As she crept down into her cool, dark 
house, a chorus of sharp barks greeted 
her, and five little, fat, baby foxes rolled 
and waddled toward this big, furry ani¬ 
mal that had meant food and warmth and 
comfort ever since they had been born in 
the snug little house. 

Mother Fox licked each one of them 
with her warm, red tongue, cuffing little 
Black Brother with her soft paw as he 
bit at his little sister. Not for a moment 



12 MOTHEB FOX OF BOUND-TOP 


did their sharp barking cease, and poor 
Mother Fox was quite worried and tired 
before she had finished washing them and 
they all cuddled up beside her for their 
nap on the pile of grasses and leaves that 
filled the end of her house. 

Now, many foxes dig their entire dens 
out of the ground, but Mother Silver-Tip 
did not like that kind of a house at all. 
And she had been very much pleased 
when she and Father Fox had found this 
den that was really more like a small cave, 
with a rear entrance where they could 
easily escape in time of danger. This 
back door of the house opened out on a 
high, narrow ledge of rock, jutting out 
over a stream that had cut a deep, rocky 
ravine down the side of the mountain. 
Pines and laurel and hemlocks grew close 
to the edge of the bank, dropping friendly 
branches down until the rocky ledge was 
completely hidden from view. And there, 




SHE HAD WANDERED FAR THAT NIGHT, 
HUNTING FOR SOME LARGE BIRDS OR 
RABBITS TO EAT. PAGE 13. 










MOTHER FOX AXD HER FAMILY 13 


when the first warm days of spring had 
come. Mother Fox would often lie, safe 
and sound, hidden by the deep, green 
boughs of the bending pines. 

Mother Fox was very, very tired this 
morning. She had wandered far that 
night, hunting for some large birds and 
rabbits to eat. With five hungry babies to 
feed, Mother Silver-Tip had to work very 
hard to get enough food. Although she 
had found several nests of small ground- 
birds and had eaten all the eggs in them, 
that was all she had been able to find all 
night, although she had run clear to the 
top of the mountain and along the Ridge 
and down around the barns at the end of 
the valley. 

Not a chicken nor a rabbit nor large 
bird had she been able to get, and she felt 
very tired and cross as she curled up to 
sleep in the cool Cave-House. Mrs. 
Silver-Tip had cause for worry, for the 



14 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


five little foxes were ready now to have 
her bring some food home to them, and 
how she and Father Fox were to find 
enough to feed five little empty stomachs, 
poor Mother Fox did not know! 

She made a soft sound in her throat as 
she washed little Black Brother again. 
There was no doubt about it,—Mother 
Fox loved little Black Brother more than 
she did all her other babies. Perhaps it 
was because he was just a little deeper 
color than the others, or, because he was a 
little bigger than the others, or, perhaps 
she knew that his woolly, grayish fur 
would one day become black with each 
hair tipped with white, making him a real 
“ silver fox,” and that, some day, he would 
be the most beautiful fox on Round-Top. 
Anyway, whatever the reason, he received 
more washings than the other babies, and 
his woolly, baby fur was as soft and silky 
as thistledown. 




MOTHER POX AND HER FAMILY 16 


Mother Fox was a very beautiful fox 
herself and the long, white end of her 
bushy tail was very lovely indeed. The 
rest of her heavy coat was an extremely 
bright red, darker on the back and shoul¬ 
ders and shading to a light buff along the 
sides and legs. With her long, pointed 
nose and bright eyes, she looked very 
gentle and wise, and, as she snuggled 
down with her babies, she made a very 
beautiful picture. 

Oh, how proud she was of those babies! 
No mother on Round-Top was half so 
proud and loving as was Mother Fox! 
Mrs. Rabbit and Mrs. Woodchuck didn’t 
love Mrs. Silver-Tip at all and they 
would both have thought that her babies 
were very queer-looking, indeed, if they 
had chanced to see them. But Mother 
Fox was perfectly satisfied with these 
funny, little, woolly-coated creatures, with 
their broad noses and little, pointed tails 



16 MOTHEB FOX OF KOIJND-TOP 


and small, stumpy ears. If you had seen 
them, as they wobbled about on their 
thick legs, you would never have believed 
that they would some day grow to be 
beautiful, slender, crafty foxes, with the 
pointed, narrow faces that look so wise. 

Mother Fox felt very restless this hot, 
spring day. Several times, she whined as 
her babies snuggled up to her. She was 
so very warm with her heavy, winter coat 
on that even the cave seemed hot, now, 
and she wished the little foxes would go 
to sleep so that she might go out and lie 
on the cool, shady ledge overhanging the 
rippling brook far below. 

There is no place much hotter than a 
deep woods in the first verv hot davs of 
spring, when the sun beats fiercely down 
on the bare, shadeless spots, where the 
wind never seems to strike and the new 
leaves give no protection from the heat. 
All the animals on Round-Top still wore 



MOTHER FOX AND HER FAMILY 17 


their heavy, winter coats, and, although 
they were beginning to shed them for the 
thinner, shorter fur of summer, yet, they 
all,—even little Mrs. Rabbit,—felt the 
heat very much indeed. Poor Mother 
Fox’s coat was especially thick and warm, 
and her red tongue lolled out of her mouth 
as she panted beside the five little foxes in 
the cave. Soon, they were sound asleep 
and, as softly as a falling leaf, she padded 
out of the stuffy den and laid down on the 
cool, stone ledge where the pines made 
such grateful shade. 

Now, like most wild animals, Mother 
Fox hunted at night and slept almost all 
day, and so, stretching her long, pointed 
nose out on her paws, just like a dog, she 
was soon fast asleep. Her sharp ears 
twitched every now and then as a Red 
Squirrel chattered angrily above her head 
in the big pine trees, or as some little dry 
leaf fluttered for a moment along the 




18 MOTHER FOX OF ROTJXD-TOP 


stony ledge, frolicking with the gentle, 
spring winds that blew up the ravine. It 
was all so peaceful and quiet that Mother 
Silver-Tip stayed there until afternoon, 
when the sharp yelps of the little, hungry 
fox-babies called her into the cave once 


more. 



CHAPTER II 


MOTHER FOX GOES HUNTING 



CHAPTER II 


MOTHER FOX GOES HUNTING 

When she came out of the cave again, 
the long, dark shadows of early twilight 
were creeping along the stony ledge, and 
Mother Fox knew it was time to go hunt¬ 
ing once more. And she knew something 
else, too; this time, she must bring a rab¬ 
bit or a partridge home for her children. 
They were getting so strong now and so 
large and their teeth were so very sharp, 
that they must have something solid to 
chew on and fight over and play with if 
they were to grow up to be the big, strong 
foxes that Mother Silver-Tip was deter¬ 
mined they should be. 

One thing worried Mother Fox very 

much indeed,—Father Fox had not come 

21 


22 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


home all day! Father Fox had kept her 
supplied with field-mice and rabbits and 
even a baby woodchuck once or twice, 
while she had been obliged to stay at home 
with the babies after they were born and 
needed so much of her care. Father Fox 
was a very wise, old hunter and Mother 
Silver-Tip wished him to know that it was 
time now to begin to bring plenty of food 
home for the children. So she crept very 
softly through the deep shadows under¬ 
neath the pine trees and out along some 
sandstone ledges where she could look far 
down the mountainside and out across the 
Plains below. 

Mother Fox seemed to know that her 
fur exactly matched the golden-red sand¬ 
stone so perfectly that in the pale light 
still left on the mountainside, she looked 
like part of the rocks themselves. Here 
she sat and watched, her sharp, pointed 
ears tinning this way and that as she 



MOTHER FOX GOES HUNTING 23 


listened for Father Fox. Down below 
her, she saw some rabbits playing and 
frolicking about, never dreaming that that 
one red rock right above their heads was 
not a rock at all but their deadly enemy, 
—Mother Fox! 

Above her, Mrs. Woodchuck waddled 
heavily along on her way to the thicket for 
roots, and even a yellow-tipped porcupine 
came out and sat on the rocks close by and 
sniffed and sniffed at all the smells that 
the soft, spring wind was bringing to his 
wiggling, snuffy nose. He did not see 
Mrs. Fox either, and the wind was blow¬ 
ing the wrong way to tell him of her,—a 
fact that Mother Fox knew quite well. 
But she wouldn’t have touched him even 
if he had been within reach of her sharp 
teeth. All the animals on Round-Top 
know from bitter experience what Peter 
Porcupine will do if they try to catch him. 
He would just roll himself up into a ball, 



24 MOTHER FOX OF ROUXD-TOP 


a very prickly ball, and then fill the other 
animal’s nose and mouth and paws full of 
his sharp-pointed quills. Glad enough 
are all the animals to let him alone. So 
Mother Silver-Tip only glanced at him 
once or twice, just to be sure that he was 
not near enough to harm her should the 
wind chance to tell him she was near. 
Then she continued looking down the 
mountain for Father Fox. 

Father Fox had gone hunting with her 
the night before and they had kept to¬ 
gether until they reached the Ridge. 
There they had separated, taking differ¬ 
ent trails, just as they often had done. 
What had become of him, Mother Fox 
did not know. The long shadows crept 
up the hill, farther and farther, until they 
covered Mrs. Silver-Tip with their gray 
cloak. Then she started off to hunt alone. 
Somehow, she seemed to know that Fa¬ 
ther Fox would not come home any more, 



MOTHER FOX GOES HOTTING 25 

and that the little foxes must now depend 
on just their mother for food and training 
and lessons and play. 

As she trotted softly down the moun¬ 
tainside, she made no more noise than the 
soft night wind itself as she carefully 
placed each dainty paw on the rocks or 
mossy slope. With ears well forward to 
catch every sound and with her keen eyes 
peering intently into the shadows on all 
sides, she seemed slowly to drift down the 
mountain. Each foot was put down as 
carefully and cautiously as a soft paw 
could be, and there was not the least sign 
of haste. 

Mother Silver-Tip knew that wood- 
mice had many runways through the deep 
moss, and while she liked rabbit or birds 
far better, nevertheless several mice would 
satisfy her hunger so that she could take 
the long hunting trip that she meant to 
take that night. Or if she could only catch 



26 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


a rabbit—mmm!—mmm! Mother Silver- 
Tip’s mouth watered at the thought of a 
nice, tender rabbit. 

Cautiously she dropped down the hill 
until she came to a dead tree lying across 
a big rock that jutted out from the moun¬ 
tainside and hung over the rough, steep 
slope. The night wind shifted for just an 
instant, and in that second, it brought a 
delicious tell-tale smell to Mother Fox’s 
nose. It told of partridge near by,—right 
at hand, in fact. Mrs. Fox “ froze ’’for 
just a moment, not moving as much as a 
hair,—only her keen eyes turned this way 
and that, and then—she jumped,—over 
the dead tree, almost to the very edge of 
the rock. Quick as she was, Mother 
Partridge was even quicker, and almost as 
Mrs. Fox landed in her nest, there was a 
quick, thick whirr-rr and Mother Par¬ 
tridge was gone! Mrs. Silver-Tip seemed 
to grin as she drew her lips back from her 




MOTHER FOX GOES HUNTING 27 


white teeth; then she quickly ate the waxy 
eggs that filled the nest and continued her 
way down the steep hill. 

Keen as were her eyes, however, there 
were other eyes just as keen on the moun¬ 
tain that night,—for the field-mice and 
wood-mice and the rabbits were watching 
for her just as eagerly as she was watch¬ 
ing for them. Mother Rabbit had all her 
children out on the mountain to enjoy the 
warm spring twilight. She had four of 
the fluffiest, prettiest rabbit-babies that 
she had ever owned and she felt that they 
were the brightest rabbit-babies on the 
whole mountain. Young as they were, 
they had already learned their way 
around in the thicket that grew near their 
Spruce Tree House. At the slightest 
sign from Mother Rabbit, they would 
“ freeze ” like little stone bunnies, not 
even moving a whisker. 

They had learned the smell of Bobby 




28 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


Lynx,—one of their worst enemies,—and 
of Jimmy Weasel and of Father and 
Mother Fox. Mollie Rabbit never could 
see why all these animals wanted to eat 
her and her babies. She didn’t want to 
eat them ,—all she asked was just plenty 
of delicious leaves and bark. This was 
much nicer than eating each other. Mrs. 
Rabbit often had wondered, while she had 
tended her babies in their home ’neath the 
roots of the Hollow Spruce, why the wild¬ 
cats and Jimmy Weasel and the foxes and 
the wolves were so very, very fond of eat¬ 
ing her and her babies! 

And Mrs. Woodchuck puzzled about 
this matter, too, as she popped up out of 
her warm burrow and watched Mrs. Fox 
go slowly down the hill. A dead leaf 
snapped against a limb of a tree and 
Mother Woodchuck popped back down 
into her home. She feared that it might 
be Father Fox, as he was always to be 



MOTHER FOX GOES HUNTING 29 


found somewhere near by when Mrs. 
Silver-Tip was hunting. And poor Mrs. 
Woodchuck felt that hunting for roots 
had better be put off for a while. 

Mollie Rabbit whisked her four babies 
down the hill, keeping well in the black 
shadows of some big, pine trees, being 
careful that the wind did not tell of her 
presence on the hillside. Now as Bobby 
Lynx and all the other wild creatures had 
learned, the wind is not only the animals’ 
best friend but, also, their worst enemy 
unless they learn how to make use of him 
and keep him blowing toward them, if 
possible. In this way, he is their friend, 
but when he tells about them, then he is 
their enemy. 

So the wind’s lessons are the very first 
things all the wild mothers try to teach 
their children. How they do it and how 
the children learn it so well is one of dear, 
old Mother Nature’s secrets that she will 



30 MOTHER FOX OF ROUHD-TOP 


not tell us. For Mother Nature loves the 
wild, little creatures on the hills and she 
does not intend to let us know too much 
about them. She feels that we know too 
much about them as it is, and so she keeps 
to herself this secret of how animals talk. 

And we shall, probably, never know 
just how dear Mollie Rabbit had trained 
her babies so that they obeyed her exactly, 
and thus slipped away without Mrs. Sil¬ 
ver-Tip seeing them or getting one smell 
of them. 



CHAPTER III 


MOTHER FOX AND THE GOOSE 










CHAPTER III 


MOTHER FOX AND THE GOOSE 

When Mrs. Fox reached the foot of 
the mountain, the frogs were trilling and 
singing as hard as they knew how, keep¬ 
ing carefully out of Mother Fox’s way, 
however, as Mrs. Silver-Tip was known 
to eat frogs if other food happened to be 
scarce. Their jingling, tingling voices 
rang shrilly in her ears and she poked her 
long nose down into near-by hummocks 
of rushes. But the frogs just slid off into 
the water and sang at her harder than ever 
their little frog-song that sounds so sweet 
and clear in the spring twilights: 

Ting-a-ling! Ting-a-ling-ling! 

What a joyous time is spring! 

We all sing and shout with glee, 

For we ’re happy as can be! 

Tree—ee—ee—ee—ee—ee—ee! 

33 



34 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


Mother Fox didn’t like their song at 
all. It hurt her very sensitive ears and, 
besides, it prevented her from hearing the 
other wood-noises that she wanted to hear. 
So she turned from the marshes and be¬ 
gan to trot rapidly along the foot of the 
mountain. Long Pond glimmered in 
the starlight and Mrs. Silver-Tip gal¬ 
loped with easy lopes around its upper 
end. 

If the partridges and rabbits and wood¬ 
chucks could not be caught on the moun¬ 
tain, she knew a spot where she was sure 
of getting a delicious meal for herself and 
plenty for her children. This was the 
barnyard at the far end of the valley and, 
although it was very dangerous to go 
there, nevertheless several fat chickens 
could be caught in a single night if she 
were very careful and sly. Mother Sil¬ 
ver-Tip licked her chops as she thought of 
those delicious, foolish chickens that were 



MOTHER FOX AND THE GOOSE 35 


so easy to get if only one were very wise 
and careful. 

Bounding along on her slender legs 
that were just made for speed, it did not 
take her long to cover the miles between 
Long Pond and the settlers’ farms. Here 
she began to go very cautiously and 
quietly, standing perfectly still at the 
least noise and then, when she was sure it 
meant no danger, stealing on again. 
Over the barnyard fence she went with a 
bound, around the corncrib and then to 
the chicken-house. 

Carefully locked and screened as it was, 
it did not take her long to dig under one 
end of it and come up inside the coop. A 
fat, white hen was gone in a very few 
moments and then another. Each time 
she carried them out behind a big, 
gray rock outside the barnyard where 
she could lie safely hidden herself, 
yet where she could watch in all direc- 



36 MOTHER FOX OF ROUXD TOP 


tions for Watch, the big dog on the 
farm. 

Never had chickens tasted so good as 
did those two fat ones to Mrs. Fox! 
Then the thought of her little cubs at 
home sent her flying over the fence for 
the third time. She was just stealing 
around the end of the barn when some¬ 
thing white, close by one of the tall straw- 
stacks, caught her eyes. It was a large, 
white goose that was keeping as quiet as 
ever a goose could keep, for he saw Mrs. 
Fox and he was watching her every move 
with big, round eyes. 

Now if there were anything Mother 
Fox loved better even than chicken, it was 
a nice, fat goose, and one goose would be 
a fine breakfast for five babies, whereas 
one or even two chickens would not be 
much at all. With a bound so quick it 
caught Mr. Goosey-Gander all unpre¬ 
pared even to move, Mother Fox pounced 




SOMETHING WHITE CAUGHT HER EYE, 
CLOSE BY ONE OF THE TALL STRAW- 
STACKS IN THE BARNYARD. PAGE 36. 









MOTHEK FOX AND THE GOOSE 37 


on him. He only had time to hiss once 
or twice before she had snatched him up 
and was bounding away for home. But 
those two hisses were very nearly the 
means of putting an end to Mother Fox’s 
hunting trips forever! Watch, the wise, 
old hunting dog, was just prowling 
through the garden toward the barn when 
his quick ears caught poor goosey-gan¬ 
der’s sharp hisses, and he knew at once 
that something was wrong. 

At the very instant he heard the fright¬ 
ened hiss of the goose, the wind had 
brought him a smell that spelled fox,— 
and fox close at hand. He had been 
trained from puppy hood to hunt foxes 
and the bristles rose stiffly along his spine 
as the wind told him that there was one 
right in his barnyard. Giving tongue 
that told his master and everyone in hear¬ 
ing that he was on the fresh trail of a fox, 
Watch did not seem to run, but to bound 



38 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


forward by long, savage leaps. Over the 
fence he went in one graceful leap that 
carried him close to the big rock. 

Now, Mother Silver-Tip knew the dan¬ 
ger coming so swiftly behind her. She 
knew that she could outwit and outrun 
Watch, for she had done it again and 
again. But that had been on the moun¬ 
tainside or close to the dear, old hill. 
Here was an open plain where she had no 
chance to hide or double back on her 
tracks and so fool the dog. Besides,—she 
was carrying the very heavy goose and 
that would hinder her. So she decided to 
play a trick on Watch. 

Foxes are so wise that no matter what 
new problem is put before them, they al¬ 
ways seem able to understand it instantly 
and plan a way out of the trouble. A fox 
is a smaller, more delicate and less fierce 
animal than Bobby Lynx or the wolves or 
dogs that hunt him all the time, and so 



MOTHER FOX AND THE GOOSE 39 


Mother Nature has made the brain of a 
fox grow to such a degree that he is smart 
enough to save himself by his wits to make 
up for his lack of strength. And Mother 
Fox decided to use her wits as best she 
knew how! Like a stone, she dropped 
close to the big rock on its far side. 

As Watch leaped, the wind told him 
that the fox was right ahead of him, and 
racing past the big rock, he tore along. 
Almost as he passed, Mother Fox 
bounded back over the fence and struck 
off through the orchard toward the Ridge 
that hedged in the valley. She knew that 
she would only have an instant’s lead, as 
Watch would quickly come back to pick 
up her trail. She heard the farmer’s 
voice now in the orchard behind her as she 
raced along on those slender, tireless legs 
of hers. 

On she bounded, clearing the orchard 
fence, and then away across the level 



40 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


plains toward the bottom of the Ridge. 
The goose was heavier than she had 
thought he was and the muscles of her 
neck and jaws were beginning to ache. 
If only she could reach the Ridge, she 
knew of hundreds of hiding places where 
she could escape from Watch. She could 
even squeeze down into any deserted bur¬ 
row of a badger or woodchuck, and there 
she could escape by one of the many back 
ways. Or she could hide in the rocky 
caves that she knew so well, until she waS 
rested enough to creep out or dig out some 
other way. 

She raced on, her head held high to 
keep the goose from dangling in her way. 
The gray outlines of the Ridge were be¬ 
coming clearer and clearer,—surely she 
could reach it! But Watch had a brain 
almost as clever as Mother Silver-Tip’s. 
He had gone but a bound or two when he 
realized that he had lost the trail, back he 



MOTHEE FOX AXD THE GOOSE 41 


had dashed to the rock where he had 
picked it up again, and then, over the 
fence and through the orchard he had 
flashed, hot on her trail. 

Mother Fox turned her head for a brief 
look behind her and her heart gave a 
frightened leap. The dog was close be¬ 
hind her! He was gaining on her! No 
time now to try to save the goose for 
breakfast,—he must be dropped! No 
time now for anything but the most des¬ 
perate efforts to save herself. With the 
goose no longer weighing her down, she 
was off like a flash,—Watch no longer 
gaining, but holding his own! 

On and on they went, and Mother Sil¬ 
ver-Tip for the first time began to be 
afraid. Over a stream she bounded, clear¬ 
ing it in a beautiful leap that made her 
look as if she were flying, only to come 
down in a swampy, marshy stretch of 
ground at the foot of the Ridge. From 



42 MOTHER FOX OF ROUXD-TOP 


grassy hummock to hummock she leaped, 
and behind her came the dog. But he 
was much heavier than Mrs. Fox, and 
where she scarcely seemed to touch the 
grassy bunches at all, his weight drove his 
paws in until he found it hard to get 
along. 

He was dropping behind now, a fact 
that Mother Silver-Tip knew as well as 
he did. With fresh courage, she bounded 
on, reaching the rocky slopes of the Ridge 
at last. Up—up the steep, gray sides, 
bounding across a ravine too wide for the 
heavy dog to clear, and then on and up 
and over the crest and down the far side 
w T here she struck a stream of water. Into 
it she plunged and waded far, far up¬ 
stream, thus destroying her scent. She 
did not leave the friendly little creek until 
she saw a big rock overhanging it. With 
a mighty leap, she managed to gain a 
foothold on a ledge of it. Up she crawled 



MOTHER FOX AND THE GOOSE 43 


and climbed until she could leap to an¬ 
other rock, and then another. Then, sure 
that her trail was completely destroyed, 
but not yet daring to go home, she curled 
up in a hollow tree to listen for Watch. 

Soon, she heard him baying far down 
the creek where she had entered the water. 
Watch himted and searched for the trail, 
but it was no use. He could not find it. 
Once more, the wise old fox had fooled 
him. Mother Fox curled herself up for a 
short nap. As soon as she was sure that he 
had gone home, Mother Fox intended to 
go back and get that goose if possible. 
And after Watch had crept back home, 
tired and ashamed, Mother Fox slept un¬ 
til toward morning, and then in the dim, 
misty dawn she once more stole cautiously 
and carefully over the Ridge and down to 
the Plain, and was soon bounding back 
home with the dead goose in her tired, 
aching jaws. 






CHAPTER IV 

BLACK BROTHER HAS AN 
ADVENTURE 


CHAPTER IV 


BLACK BROTHER HAS AN ADVENTURE 

The early morning sun was turning 
the gray rocks all shades of pink and yel¬ 
low as she crept to her den in the Cave- 
House. Black Brother was just peeking 
out of the front door. Mother Fox gave 
him a hard cuff with her paw. The cubs 
had been warned to lie still while she was 
gone and never, never to go out of the 
safe Cave-House. But Black Brother 
had always been very venturesome and 
had never obeyed as w r ell as the other 
children. Now his disobedience told 
Mother Fox very plainly that it was high 
time that she began to take them out of 
the cave and give them their first lessons 
in woodcraft. 


47 


48 MOTHER FOX OF ROUXD-TOP 


So, giving a peculiar little call that told 
the children to come outside at once, she 
trotted to the middle of the thicket that 
hid the front door of the Cave-House. 
Right in the middle of this thicket was a 
large grassy plot underneath a big tree. 
As the little foxes came slipping and wad¬ 
dling and sliding along behind her, she 
threw the goose down on the grassy 
mound. Then Mother Silver-Tip sat 
down on her haunches to see what they 
w r ould do with it. 

Poor, old goosey-gander had been dead 
for some time, and, sad to say, Mother 
Fox was very sorry about that fact. She 
would have liked to give the children a 
lesson in playing with the goose and then 
catching it again and again as it tried to 
escape, for a fox likes to play with his 
natch as a cat does with a mouse. But, 
now that the goose was dead, all they 
could do was to pounce on it with sharp, 



BLACK BKOTHEK 


49 


angry barks and excited squeals and tear 
it to pieces, biting choice mouthfuls out 
of its soft, juicy flesh. How they tossed 
and tore and pulled poor goosey-gander, 
grabbing a mouthful of feathers every 
now and then and scattering them about, 
until the green mound looked as if a huge 
feather pillow had been emptied all 
over it. 

Mother Fox looked at them with pride, 
as she saw how fiercely they snarled and 
scrambled over the goose. Of course, 
this was not the first time that they had 
been outdoors. When the first really 
warm days of spring had come and it 
looked as if the hard, cold winter were 
indeed over and done with, every evening 
Father and Mother Fox had taken them 
out for a little play right in front of the 
front door. All this, however, had just 
been play, and meant only to train and 
strengthen their baby muscles, although, 



50 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


while playing, they had learned the 
“ Keep Quiet ” rule and the Rules of 
Obedience long ago. 

They already had had a few field-mice 
and birds that Father Fox had brought 
to them in the cave, but this was their first 
meal that they had really had to fight over 
and bite and snarl about and pull apart 
for themselves. And it was their first 
visit to the middle of the thicket. Every 
few moments they would stop and peer 
timidly around, looking frightened until 
they saw their mother calmly watching 
them. Then they went on eating. But 
Mrs. Fox was not as calm as she looked 
to be. Her keen ears twitched now for¬ 
ward, now back, as she listened intently 
to the noises from the woodland. 

She heard the soft, sliding sound of a 
huge black snake as he crawled up the 
rocks to a warm ledge. A lizard scuttled 
underneath a stone near by, and Mother 



BLACK BROTHER 


51 


Fox decided to remember that stone and 
watch there. Lizards were very delicate 
food and she was very fond of them. A 
foolish, red squirrel crept out on the limb 
of the tree and scolded so angrily that he 
almost lost his balance. Mother Silver- 
Tip watched him very interestedly as he 
slipped along the limb; then she turned 
to look at her babies. How they tossed 
poor goosey-gander and how strong they 
were growing! 

Soon there was nothing left but the 
feathers, and Mother Fox felt that they 
should now go back into the cave to sleep. 
But the five little foxes did not think so at 
all. They loved it out there in the thicket, 
and jumped and scampered around so 
happily that Mother Fox forgot her fears 
for a while and played with them,—dash¬ 
ing through the thicket, cuffing them over 
with her paws, wrestling with them until 
they grew so warm that their little, pink 



52 MOTHER FOX OF ROUXD-TOP 


tongues began to hang out of their littie 
mouths and they panted for breath. 
Their eyes gleamed with excitement and 
Mother Fox looked at them very proudly. 
Surely they were going to be very bright 
children, and she decided that they could 
have a real hunting lesson very soon. 

Mother Fox turned her head longingly 
toward the ravine where came the sound 
of the murmuring brook. She would have 
liked very much to lie on the cool, shady 
ledge, but she started toward the cave, the 
children following after. As the little 
foxes scampered into the cave, her quick 
ears caught a sound in the thicket behind 
her. She turned just in time to see Black 
Brother vanish up the hill beneath the low 
pine boughs that hung over the ravine. 
Mrs. Fox glared in anger. Had some 
enemy carried him off? With a snarl that 
sent the other children scampering into 
the den to huddle in fear at its furthest 



BLACK BKOTHER 


63 


end, she dashed into the thicket, bounded 
up the hill underneath the pines and 
looked around her. Black Brother was 
not to be seen! 

Only for a moment was she in doubt, 
however,—as a faint, little whimper 
sounded from the ravine. With a bound, 
Mother Silver-Tip dashed through the 
laurel bushes and small, silver birches and 
low-hanging pine boughs that screened 
the edge of the ravine. There was Black 
Brother down on the ledge, closely hud¬ 
dled against the bank as if he feared every 
moment that he might fall the rest of the 
way down. 

Poor, naughty, little Black Brother! 
He was paying very dearly for disobey¬ 
ing his mother and not going to the safe 
Cave-House when she had told him to. 
Venturesome as he was, he had deter¬ 
mined in his baby mind that it would be 
pleasant to go for a little prowl up the 



54 MOTHER FOX OF ROUXD-TOP 


cool-looking hill, and he had fallen right 
off the edge of it! The low pine boughs 
had kept him from seeing where he was 
until too late! And it had been a very 
fortunate thing for him that he had 
chanced to fall where the ledge stuck out 
far enough to catch him! 

Poor Black Brother felt venturesome 
no longer and he was a very happy little 
fox when Mother Silver-Tip dashed down 
the hill into the den and then out the back 
door on to the ledge! Somehow she man¬ 
aged to coax him to follow her, trem¬ 
blingly and very badly frightened, along 
the shelf and back into the Cave-House. 

Then, tired from their play and sleepy 
from their heavy breakfast, it was not 
long before the five little cubs were sound 
asleep, and Mother Fox could slip out to 
her well-hidden resting place on the cool 
ledge. 



CHAPTER V 


MOTHER FOX PLAYS DEAD 











CHAPTER V 


MOTHER FOX PLAYS DEAD 

When night came, the moon crept up 
over the Ridge so big and yellow that it 
flooded all the mountainside with a light 
almost as bright as day, and the world was 
very beautiful. Poor Mollie Rabbit 
looked anxiously out the door of her bur¬ 
row in the roots of the Hollow Spruce. 
She and her babies had been scampering 
and darting up and down the hillside in 
the early twilight when all the hill had 
been gray and little rabbits could not 
easily be seen by Bobby Lynx and the 
foxes. But this bright, yellow moonlight 
made Mrs. Rabbit feel very nervous. The 
night before, clouds had hidden the moon 

and it had been perfectly safe on the hill- 

57 


68 MOTHER FOX OF ROUXD-TOP 


side. But to-night, every sharply-out¬ 
lined shadow looked like an enemy just 
ready to pounce on her and her baby bun¬ 
nies. So she finally took them all home 
and put them to bed. Then she stole back 
to look out into the brightly-lighted 
world, as she sat, safely hidden by the 
large roots of the spruce. 

Now Mrs. Rabbit was, indeed, a wise 
Mother Rabbit and she had chosen a home 
underneath this tall tree that was at the 
very edge of a rocky slope. Huge, gray 
boulders reared their jagged heads here 
and there, and there were hundreds of safe 
little holes where a rabbit could hide un¬ 
seen. On the other side of the spruce was 
a mossy slope, bordered by a thicket, and 
so Mollie and her babies had a safe, won¬ 
derful playground. 

Now the cave where Mother Silver-Tip 
lived was a part of this same rocky for¬ 
mation,—just around an elbow of the hill. 



MOTHER FOX PLAYS DEAD 


59 


Mother Rabbit knew about Mrs. Silver- 
Tip, but, as yet, Mrs. Fox, for all her 
wisdom, had not learned that there was a 
family of rabbits so close by. As a rule, 
the rabbits lived farther down the hill. 

Rut to-night, as Mother Fox started out 
on her hunting trip, she had just reached 
the top of this rocky slope when the spring 
wind brought her a smell of rabbit. And 
the wind also told her that this rabbit was 
not very far away. Mollie Rabbit knew 
the Wind Lessons,—every one of them,— 
but what can a little rabbit do when the 
night wind does not play fair, but blows 
first this way and then that way, then 
crossways? The wind was behaving very 
badly this warm, spring night, for he 
frolicked in every direction, first one way 
and then another, and all the little animals 
had hard work keeping track of him. 

So, almost at the very instant that he 
told Mother Fox that Mollie was near, he 



60 MOTHER FOX OF ROUXD-TOP 


whisked back and whispered to Mrs. Rab¬ 
bit that Mother Silver-Tip was hunting 
that night. Poor little Mrs. Rabbit 
crouched back behind the spruce roots 
just as her keen eyes saw a sliding, mov¬ 
ing shape creep out on the big rocks. It 
was Mother Fox. She did not know ex¬ 
actly where this rabbit might be that she 
had smelled, so she crept along as care¬ 
fully as she knew how,—keeping out of 
the moonlight and close to the rocks. 

For a moment she paused, and Mother 
Rabbit, forgetting that the moon was 
shining right on the front door of her 
house, poked her head out a little way to 
see better, and then,—Mother Fox knew 
exactly where she was and planned ex¬ 
actly what to do. 

Now there is no doubt about it,—the 
fox family deserve to be called “wise”! 
There is no animal that seems so able to 
plan ways and means of solving a new 





SHE DROPPED SUDDENLY FULL LENGTH, 
AS IF SHE WERE DEAD! PAGE 61. 








MOTHER FOX PLAYS DEAD 


61 


trap or a new danger as is the fox! And 
Mrs. Silver-Tip was the wisest of all the 
fox family! Anything made of wire, 
sticks or strings made her suspicious and 
on guard, and so no trap had ever caught 
her! The man-smell was one that always 
spelled an especial danger, and wherever 
her sharp nose caught it, she was at once 
as cautious as she knew how to be. She 
knew all the habits of all the animals, big 
and little, on Round-Top. So when she 
saw Mrs. Rabbit peering out from the 
Spruce Tree House, she knew just what 
to do to catch Mollie for her supper. 

Walking boldly out into the moonlight, 
she slowly descended the rocky slope un¬ 
til she was at the very edge of the mossy 
spot that Mollie loved so well. There she 
dropped suddenly, full length as if she 
were dead! The moonlight shone on her 
very brightly and Mollie could see very 
plainly that not a whisker, not an ear, not 




62 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


a paw moved! Mother Silver-Tip knew 
that a rabbit has more curiosity than al¬ 
most any other wild animal, unless it 
might be Bobby Lynx or some of his 
family. And this wise, old fox knew that 
if she “ played dead,” that curiosity would 
soon make Mollie come out to look at her, 
and then—well, then ,—Mother Silver- 
Tip would have a most delicious supper! 

So there she was,—stretched out like a 
poor, dead fox, with her paws out stiff 
and straight as if they would never again 
go bounding over the dear old mountain! 
And, sure enough,—there was Mother 
Rabbit, wiggling and twitching her little 
nose and smelling all the secrets that the 
wind was bringing her, and hopping out a 
few steps to stare curiously at this fox 
that was acting in such a peculiar manner! 
Then as if suddenly frightened, she would 
dash back to the Hollow Spruce Tree 
House,—only to bob out again to stare at 



MOTHER FOX PLAYS DEAD 63 

the fox. Each time she grew a little 
bolder, and each time she ventured out a 
little closer and closer to Mother Fox, 
who was listening with all her ears to 
every move that Mrs. Rabbit made. 
Closer and closer came Mollie, but not 
quite close enough for Mother Silver-Tip 
to make her wonderful cat-like spring to 
catch her. 

Mollie hopped a little nearer and then 
sat up quickly and stared hard! Curiosity 
was making her do something that she 
knew full well was most foolish. If she 
took just three or four more hops. 
Mother Fox would have her in an instant. 
And oh,—how eagerly Mrs. Fox was 
waiting for her to take those hops! But 
foolish Mollie was not so curious but that 
she could be just a little bit cautious. 
And so, just as Mother Fox believed she 
would soon have her supper, Mollie scut¬ 
tled back down the hill for quite a dis- 



64 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 

_ _ 

tance. Then she began to hop up the 
mountain again, but this time, hopping in 
a wide circle that carried her far to the 
right of the spot where Mrs. Fox was ly¬ 
ing. All that the fox could do was to lie 
still until Mollie overcame the last bit 
of her fear and caution and came close 
by. 

So on Mollie went, pausing every hop 
or two to sit up and look earnestly at Mrs. 
Fox. Soon, she was above Mrs. Silver- 
Tip. The fox was still just as quiet and 
stiff as any dead fox you ever saw, and so 
down came poor, foolish Mollie,—hop- 
pity—hoppity—until she was so close to 
Mother Silver-Tip that, had she been fac¬ 
ing that way, it would have been the end 
of Mollie! But, fortunately for Mollie, 
Mrs. Fox was facing down hill, and so 
Mollie was at her back. The wind was 
blowing down hill and he told Mother 
Fox how close Mother Rabbit was getting 



MOTHER FOX PLAYS DEAD 


65 


just as plainly as if she were watching 
Mollie with her own sharp eyes. 

Mollie was so sure that this wise, old 
fox was dead, that she did not try at all 
to obey the wind rules that she knew so 
well. Another hop or two and then,— 
Mrs. Fox seemed to bound into the air and 
turn around all in one quick flash. Poor, 
startled Mrs. Rabbit saw the flashing eyes 
and the sharp, white teeth as Mrs. Fox 
leaped at her. But Mrs. Rabbit had not 
been quite as close as Mother Fox had 
thought, and the sharp teeth snapped to¬ 
gether several inches below her little, 
white tail as she went bouncing up the 
hillside. 

Mrs. Fox darted after her, feeling sure 
that her long leaps could soon overtake 
little Mrs. Rabbit. And if Mollie had not 
known of all the hiding places in the rocks, 
that is just what would have happened. 
Her short legs were no match at all for 



66 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


the long, slender ones of Mrs. Fox. But 
just as poor, frightened Mollie could al¬ 
most feel Mrs. Fox’s hot breath on her 
back, there opened up before her in the 
rocky slope, the very hiding place she had 
been heading for. 

A root of a tree had reached down in a 
tiny crack of a big rock long, long years 
ago and there it had grown and grown 
until it had split the rock from top to bot¬ 
tom, making an opening just wide enough 
for a rabbit to dash into. Mrs. Rabbit 
plunged into the friendly crack and 
pushed and shoved as far back in as she 
could go. 

Mrs. Fox was angry! Her jaws 
snapped with sharp, vicious clicks as she 
thought of her lost supper. Then, she lay 
down very quietly near the crack, believ¬ 
ing that Mollie would have to come out 
the way she went in. But this hiding 
place was a very fine one, indeed. All 



MOTHER FOX PLAYS HEAD 


67 


Mrs. Rabbit had to do was to crawl up 
behind the big root, push softly through 
some very loose earth and leaves and— 
there she was outside and on top of the 
rock. 

Stealing away as quietly as ever a little 
rabbit could, she made a wide circle, 
finally coming back to the safe little home 
’neath the Hollow Tree. Mrs. Fox 
waited and watched at the opening of the 
split rock. The bright moonlight began 
to grow paler and paler, and still she 
watched for Mrs. Rabbit. At last, con¬ 
vinced that if she wanted any supper, she 
must give up all hope of Mollie, she 
slowly crept away from the rock and 
leaped quickly down the mountainside. 

As she neared the foot of the hill, a 
curious and very beautiful sight met her 
eyes. The day had been so very warm 
and the night so cool, that the whole val¬ 
ley was filled with a heavy, white mist that 



68 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


looked in the moonlight like a vast, silvery 
lake. It completely hid the Plains and 
the Marshes and Long Pond and it was 
very beautiful. But Mrs. Fox didn’t 
think about that part at all. To her, this 
wonderful mist just meant an added pro¬ 
tection to her as she loped off toward the 
barnyard. So completely was she hidden 
that she secured a very bountiful break¬ 
fast for her children,—so many chickens, 
in fact, that the farmer decided that some¬ 
thing would surely have to be done about 
it. 



CHAPTER VI 

HOW MOTHER NATURE PAINTED 

THE HILL 








CHAPTER VI 


HOW MOTHER NATURE PAINTED THE HILL 

When Mrs. Fox called her five little 
cubs out of the cave next morning, they 
knew exactly what to do and there was 
an eager race behind Mother Fox to the 
grassy mound in the thicket. And then 
again, the little mound looked as if a 
feather pillow had been emptied all over 
it. It was another beautiful day on 
Round-Top and, as it promised to be even 
warmer than the day before, Mother Fox 
decided to take the children out on the 
Ledge. 

She felt that it was high time for their 

real lessons to begin. Carefully she led 

them out to the cool, shady shelf, and in 

71 


72 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


her wonderful way, made them under¬ 
stand that they were safe out there. The 
little cubs were greatly frightened at first, 
but when they had snuggled down close 
to the bank with their mother between 
them and the edge of the ledge, they were 
very happy and contented. The spring 
wind blew across the ravine, bringing a 
smell that told Mother Fox that Peter 
Porcupine was prowling around on the 
other bank and the little foxes learned that 
smell right then and there. 

They were very intelligent children, in¬ 
deed, and that afternoon when they had 
their first lesson in hunting, Mother Fox 
had every reason to be proud of them. 
Each one of them caught a wood-mouse in 
the deep moss and learned how to follow 
the little runways in the grass and just 
when and how to pounce. Oh, it was 
great fun and the little foxes would have 
liked to keep the hunt up all day long. 




NATURE PAINTED THE HILL 73 


But there were other lessons to be learned, 
—hard, long lessons they were, too, that 
took not only that day but many, many 
days and nights. 

There were the wind lessons to be 
learned and the smell of each animal. 
There were hunting lessons and running 
and hiding lessons, lessons in digging and 
in covering up the trail. There were les¬ 
sons in wading in the cool, mountain 
brooks to break the trail. There were 
long, hard lessons in chasing rabbits, that 
carried them up and over the top of the 
mountain and across the Ridge, and then 
home again so tired that they could hardly 
sleep. There were lessons in learning all 
their enemies and how to avoid them, les¬ 
sons in being both the hunter and the 
hunted,—they had to learn how to have 
many ways of escape. 

The deadly enemy, man, had to be 
studied most carefully of all, and the man- 



74 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


smell was one that the cubs disliked more 
than any other. When they stole through 
the cornfields down on the Plains, the 
bristles rose on their necks as they circled 
round and round the old scarecrow that 
the farmer had put there. All that their 
wise, fearless mother knew about traps 
and poisoned bait and chickens put out 
just to catch her and her children, they 
had to learn. They were taught to “ play 
dead” to fool the silly rabbits and ground¬ 
hogs. Many and many a delicious meal 
was secured by this clever trick that al¬ 
ways fooled these creatures who were so 
full of curiosity that they forgot to be 
wise. 

Oh, it was such fun to be alive these 
beautiful spring and summer days, and 
lessons were truly delightful when one 
had such a wise teacher as Mother Silver- 
Tip. When evening came, they frolicked 
and played in the dear, old thicket safely 



NATURE PAINTED THE HILL 75 


sheltered on all sides by the walls of 
leaves that had grown so glossy and thick 
in the beautiful summer days. 

And how the little foxes themselves had 
grown! No longer did they have their 
baby coats. Black Brother’s was getting 
darker every day, and his little brothers 
and sisters had beautiful coats of a tawny 
red. Their little noses had become 
pointed like Mother Silver-Tip’s and 
their tails were fast becoming thick and 
bushy. Their legs that had been short 
and fat, now were so slender that it 
seemed as if they might snap or break like 
small, brittle twigs. Altogether, they 
were as beautiful a family as had ever 
lived on Round-Top! 

Bobby Lynx had seen them several 
times and he would have liked very much 
to have one of them for his breakfast. 
But, although Bobby was larger and 
stronger and fiercer than the foxes, and 



76 MOTHEB FOX OF EOUXD-TOP 


more cruel, and although his claws were 
so powerful and sharp that they could 
easily have ripped the pretty, tawny coats 
right off the backs of the little cubs, never¬ 
theless he never got close enough to touch 
them. 

Mother Nature has tried to give each 
animal some especial means of defense. 
To Bobby Lynx, she gave his cruel claws 
and the great strength combined with 
lightness that enables him to spring from 
a tree or a height on to his prey. To 
Grandfather Black Bear, she has given 
claws even more powerful than Bobby’s, 
and one hug of his huge arms will crush 
any animal that he chances to catch. And 
so the bears are not afraid of anything in 
the forest. To the skunks, Mother Na¬ 
ture has given a most effective weapon, 
and Peter Porcupine’s quills can make 
even Bobby Lynx or Grandfather Black 
Bear glad to let him quite alone. But to 



NATURE PAINTED THE HILL 77 


the fox family, she has given no such gifts 
as these. Instead, she has given them legs 
made for such endurance and speed that 
they can outrun most of the wild animals, 
and a brain that can devise ways and 
means of outwitting all their enemies,— 
even man. 

And so Bobby did not catch the little 
foxes although he tried very hard. All 
through the long, beautiful summer, they 
played and hunted and learned so many 
lessons that they were almost as wise as 
Mother Fox herself. 

And then fall came with its wonderful 
colors. The maples down the slopes of 
the dear, old hill turned to every shade of 
red and orange and yellow. Some of the 
oaks became almost purple, while the 
hickory trees wore the loveliest dresses 
of yellow. Old Mother Nature just 
splashed her lovely colors all over the 
mountain until it was more beautiful than 




78 MOTHEB FOX OF BOUND TOP 


any picture that had ever been painted by 
man! Even the smallest shrubs were not 
overlooked, but were dyed in the most 
brilliant colors by Jack Frost, who came 
out every night to help Mother Nature 
with her painting. 

He had a great deal of work to do. The 
burrs on the chestnut trees must be 
opened so that the delicious, brown nuts 
could tmnble out, and the hard, green 
covering on each hickory nut had to be 
split. The walnuts and butternuts, too, 
had to be touched so that they would 
rattle down easily in the wind. He darted 
here and there over the mountain and 
down in the Plains and through the corn¬ 
fields in the valley. Oh, he was very busy, 
indeed, and oftentimes the sun crept up 
and caught him still at work. Then away 
he would fly, leaving behind him a white, 
silvery patch of frost on the grasses where 
he had sat down to rest a moment. 



NATURE PAINTED THE HILL 79 


Mother Nature’s workshop was very, 
very busy. All the squirrels and chip¬ 
munks were so hard at work gathering the 
nuts for winter that they sometimes for¬ 
got that there might be hungry foxes 
prowling around through the woods. 
Many and many a careless squirrel paid 
for his eagerness to gather his winter 
stores! 

The rabbits and the woodchucks and 
Bobby and Tommy Lynx were growing 
warm, heavy coats for winter, and the fur 
of Mother Silver-Tip and her children 
was getting thick and glossy. All of the 
family had coats longer and thicker than 
even those of the gray wolves that lived 
on the other side of the mountain. Black 
Brother was a glossy black with nearly all 
of the hairs of his coat tipped with white. 
He was a real silver fox and if the hunt¬ 
ers in the valley below had ever caught 
sight of him, they would never have 



80 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


rested until they had caught him. Many 
and many a fox had been trapped and 
caught that fall, but not one of Mother 
Silver-Tip’s family. 



CHAPTER VII 

MOTHER FOX’S ESCAPE 



CHAPTER VII 

MOTHER FOX’S ESCAPE 

The fox family had come through the 
summer safe and sound and only one of 
them had had a bad adventure. And this 
had been Black Brother himself and it 
was his own fault, because he had dis¬ 
obeyed his mother. He had been warned 
many times never to touch a porcupine, 
but, when he saw fat Peter Porcupine 
sitting on the low stump of a tree chat¬ 
tering to himself in his silly way, Blackie 
decided that he really must be harmless 
and decided to get him for his supper. 
That was the very worst experience in all 
Black Brother’s little life and never, 
never would he forget it! 

No sooner had he grabbed Peter, than 

he became the most miserable little fox 

83 


84 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


on Round-Top. He just sat and cried 
and squealed with the pain. For Peter 
had loosened all of his very sharp quills, 
and poor Blackie’s nose and his tongue 
and his paws were filled with them! If he 
tried to pull the quills out of his paws with 
his teeth, those in his nose hurt him. And 
if he tried to brush the stinging, painful 
things off of his nose with his paws, the 
paws hurt him so badly that he could 
scarcely bear the pain. Somehow he man¬ 
aged to pull some out, and those that 
hadn’t been stuck in very tightly were 
brushed out, and so, limping and whining 
and suffering, he managed to get back to 
the safe Cave-House. 

Mother Silver-Tip pulled at the quills 
with her sharp teeth. It hurt him very 
much, but Mrs. Fox kept at it until she 
had pulled almost all of them out; the rest 
broke off and how Blackie got rid of them 
all,—no one can tell. But after a long 




MOTHER FOX’S ESCAPE 


85 


and very painful time he could eat in com¬ 
fort again and could limp around. But 
from that time he would run in fear if he 
even saw one of these walking pin¬ 
cushions. It was fortunate, oh, very for¬ 
tunate for Blackie that this particular 
porcupine had been a young one and his 
quills not as dry and sharp as an old one’s. 
Had Peter been older, it might have been 
the end of Blackie! 

Aside from that one accident, their 
summer had been a very happy one, and 
no hunter or dog had found their cave. 
There was a very good reason for this and 
that was the location of the den. Mother 
and Father Fox had remembered all the 
lessons that the forest had taught them 
when they had first found and chosen the 
Cave-House. Stones do not hold a scent 
very long and the front door of the small 
cave opened out on a long, rocky slope, 
screened by the friendly thicket, while 



86 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


the back door, as we know, opened on 
to the shelf of rock. Moreover the cave 
itself was at a corner of the hill, midway 
up the mountain where the dogs and hunt¬ 
ers seldom climbed. And, as if that were 
not protection enough, Mother Silver-Tip 
that summer had learned of a very safe, 
although veiy difficult, way to reach the 
cave after a hunting trip. Each of the 
cubs had learned it, too, and their wise 
mother made them use it. 

This new path followed a stony bank 
on the other side of the little creek to 
where a big oak had fallen across the ra¬ 
vine. By running out on the oak, it was 
but a little jump down into the stream 
whose friendly waters washed away all 
trails. Up the creek for two or three 
hundred feet went the new path to a rock 
that jutted out into the stream. A jump 
up to this rock and then to another and 
another, a scramble up the sloping bank 



MOTHER FOX’S ESCAPE 


87 


and there they were, right at the end of 
the shelf that led into the Cave-House. 
Once on the rocky ledge, they were 
screened from view, and several times that 
summer had Mother Silver-Tip been ly¬ 
ing there securely hidden while the hunt¬ 
ers had beaten up and down through the 
woods on the opposite bank without see¬ 
ing her. 

Had Mrs. Fox but known it, they were 
hunting especially for her. As her cubs 
had grown, larger and larger had grown 
their appetites, also, and larger and ever 
larger had grown the number of chickens 
and ducks and geese that Mother Silver- 
Tip had stolen for them. And now that 
the farm work was nearly done for that 
season, and the leaves had all gone from 
the trees so that a hunter or a dog could 
see a fox for a long distance, the farmer 
and his son decided that they would catch 
this wise fox that had robbed them all 




88 MOTHER FOX OF ROUXD-TGP 


summer. Then came the day that was the 
worst that the fox children had ever 
known! 

It was really a very beautiful day. The 
air was crisp and cold and the sunlight 
shining as brightly as it knew how. King 
Winter had not come himself as yet to the 
mountain, but he had sent on several of 
his most trusted helpers,—Jack Frost and 
the North Wind and Gray Clouds all 
ready to send down the snow as soon as 
Winter himself was ready to come. 
Mother Fox thought it would be a fine 
day to go hunting for rabbits or par¬ 
tridges. She and her cubs had been out all 
night and several plump chickens had dis¬ 
appeared from the farmyard. The grassy 
bank had been covered with feathers in the 
early morning but the North Wind had 
caught them up and whirled them like 
snowflakes down into the ravine, where 
the Friendly Stream ran away with them. 



_ MOTHER FOX’S ESC APE 89 

Mother Fox had had a chicken for her 
midnight meal, but after she and her 
family had rested a while and had a nap in 
the den, she began to get restless and 
decided to go out for a good breakfast. 
She loved to hunt on such cold, fresh days. 
The little cubs were nearly half-grown 
now. With their lovely winter coats and 
pointed faces and bushy tails, they were 
fast growing to look like Mrs. Fox, and, 
thanks to her careful training, they were 
almost as wise as she was. So when, this 
morning, she started out on her early 
hunt, she felt that they were safe and 
sound and perfectly able to take care of 
themselves, and she knew that they would 
stay in the den until she came back. 

Up the mountain she went and along 
the Ridge in search of some grouse and 
partridges that she knew of. But the 
grouse and the partridges were also wise, 
and they had all gone far up the moun- 




90 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


tainside where there might be some berries 
in the moss underneath the big pine trees 
and where the heavy green boughs would 
protect them from the keen North Wind. 
So Mother Silver-Tip did not find them, 
and she crept down the Ridge almost to 
the Plains in search of rabbits. She was 
always sure of finding some near the 
swamp where they could easily gather the 
bark of the young trees in the thicket. 
Slowly she prowled along, finally finding 
a fresh trail of a rabbit that had gone out 
to the marsh that had almost dried up in 
the long, dry autumn. 

Leaping lightly from hummock to 
hummock, she soon spied the little rabbit. 
But he saw her as soon as she did him, and 
he dashed madly out of the swamp toward 
the Plains. Mother Silver-Tip watched 
him for a moment in disgust. Then she 
bent down to bite out a thorn in her fore¬ 
foot. So intent was she that, for an in- 



MOTHER FOX’S ESCAPE 


91 


stant, she actually forgot where she was. 
She also forgot to think about the wind. 

Suddenly she caught a sound that 
brought her quickly to her feet. Three 
dogs and two men were coming toward 
the Ridge. She turned to creep back to 
the Ridge. She had barely reached its 
lower edge when the dogs gave tongue. 
They had found her trail,—it was a fresh 
one and they were running after her as 
hard as they knew how! The farmer had 
borrowed two of the best hunting dogs he 
knew, and with these after her and the 
fox in plain sight, he felt sure that this 
time they would catch her. 

The farmer forgot the number of mice 
and rabbits and woodchucks that she had 
eaten. Had all of these lived, they would 
have harmed his crops far more than the 
value of the chickens she had stolen. Up 
over the Ridge went the dogs and men, 
Mrs. Fox heading for the far side, hoping 



92 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


to fool them as she had fooled Watch 
when she had stolen the goose. Not for 
anything would she head for her den 
where her children were. Up she 
bounded, the dogs so close behind that she 
could not pause for a breath. 

The men left the trail and, calling one 
of the dogs, ran along the crest of the 
Ridge hoping to dash down in time to 
head her off. Sure enough, just as she 
came out of the stream that she had 
thought would fool them, there were the 
men bounding down the bank. Back to 
the stream she flew and over into the deep 
woods, taking a long circle that would 
carry her many miles beyond Round-Top 
where she hoped to lose the dogs and hide 
in one of the many holes that she knew of. 

But the men and the dog Watch seemed 
to know just what she planned to do, and 
they cut across Round-Top, to come down 
on the far side and head her off again. 



MOTHER FOX’S ESCAPE 


93 


Just as they were above the Cave-House, 
a fox appeared for a moment above them 
on the rocks. It was a stray fox that had 
heard the baying of the dogs down in the 
valley and had decided to take a round¬ 
about way to her home. Bang! went the 
terrible guns and the dog yelped and 
barked as he set out on the trail of the 
newcomer. The poor little foxes in the 
Cave-House shivered with fear as they 
listened to this awful racket,—the worst 
that they had ever heard in their lives. It 
was too steep and rough for the men to 
follow the strange fox, and it was not 
long before the dog himself returned. 
Somehow the fox had given them the slip 
on the steep slopes and the dog had been 
unable to pick up her trail. 

The wind brought the powder smell 
down into the Cave-House, and as the 
men and the dog raced around, it brought 
the scent of them, too. It was the very 



94 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


worst smell that the wind had ever 
brought to the little foxes and they cow¬ 
ered together in fear. 

Poor Mother Fox heard the guns. She 
was running as hard and as fast as she 
could, but so was Watch, and she had only 
been able to dodge him once or twice, just 
long enough to rest her weary legs for a 
few moments. Then he had her trail 
again and off she had to go. She realized 
that she could not reach her hiding places 
beyond the mountain. The mountain it¬ 
self was better. She decided to climb old 
Round-Top hoping to tire the dogs out. 

Back she doubled on her trail, once 
more finding the Friendly Stream. For 
a long way, she waded, then up the steep 
hillside at full gallop, her breath coming 
in quick gasps. She had run many miles 
with almost no chance for a rest. Up and 
over the hill she raced, and down the 
rocky slopes to get into the ravine. Far 



MOTHEE POX’S ESCAPE 


95 


behind her came the baying of Watch. 
Swiftly she fled down the slope, crossing 
the trail of the men and the dog. 

As they heard the dog’s baying, they 
turned back, as they knew that Silver-Tip 
must be heading back across the hill. 
Wise Mother Fox had smelled the trail 
of the men and dog, and realizing that a 
new danger threatened her, she fairly flew 
down the mountainside! It was well for 
her that she ran as she did, for she had 
hardly reached the ravine when the dog 
picked up her trail and came flying after 
her, followed by the men. Again came 
the shrill yelping of the dog and the 
shouts of the men, frightening the little 
foxes so that they hardly dared breathe. 

Mother Silver-Tip’s last hope lay in 
reaching the new path she had learned. 
The Friendly Stream helped her all that 
it could by washing away all traces of her 
trail as she leaped from the fallen oak into 



96 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


its gurgling depths. With aching legs, 
she gained the big rock, the next, and the 
next, and, at last, the shelf. Hidden by 
the pine boughs, she reached the Cave- 
House to drop wearily beside the fright¬ 
ened cubs. Oh, how glad they were to 
see her, and how they licked her weary 
face as she lay panting on the floor! 

From far below came the excited yelps 
of the dogs and the shouts of the men. 
Again Mother Silver-Tip had fooled 
them and they were determined to find 
her. Through the woods and the thickets 
they threshed on the opposite side of the 
ravine, encouraging the dogs by shouts. 

Never would the little foxes forget that 
day as long as they lived! And then, as 
the sun sent long, slanting shadows down 
into the ravine, the men went home. 
Again had Mother Silver-Tip been too 
wise for them. 



CHAPTER VIII 

BLACK BROTHER IS CAUGHT 
IN A TRAP 













CHAPTER VIII 


BLACK BROTHER IS CAUGHT IN A TRAP 

For a day or two the foxes did not stray 
very far away from the den. And then, 
—they forgot all about their scare and 
went hunting again. They had eaten up 
all the woodchucks and mice and rabbits 
that were to be found near the cave, and 
each day they had to go farther and 
farther out on the mountain to find any¬ 
thing at all. Mother Fox was giving 
them final lessons in hunting, teaching 
them everything that she knew. Some¬ 
times they all went out together and then 
separated, the little cubs frisking around 
in the safe thickets and rocky slopes. 

Sometimes just one little fox would go 

69 


100 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 

with Mrs. Fox, and the others would stay 
in the den and sleep. It was great fun 
romping about the mountainside on the 
clear, frosty nights. The whole family 
was having a fine time. The little foxes 
played together like a lot of fluffy collie 
puppies, wrestling and biting and chew¬ 
ing each other, pouncing on one another 
and exercising all their muscles until they 
were fast becoming very quick and strong. 

And then came the night that Blackie 
went hunting all by himself. Mother Fox 
had trotted up the hill just to look around 
for a moment or two. Black Brother and 
his little sister were wrestling and playing 
in the Cave-House, and the three other 
cubs were half asleep in the corner. 
Black Brother soon tired of his play. He 
wanted to go outdoors. He was never 
satisfied to stay long in the cave, and so, 
in a few moments, he pushed sister over 
and crept out on the mountainside. 



BROTHER IS CAUGHT IN A TRAP 101 


A little rabbit, frightened by Mother 
Fox, scurried down the hill and Black 
Brother shot after her. Pell-mell down 
the mountain they went, the little rabbit 
just managing to keep a little bit ahead. 
Reaching the bottom of the hill, she darted 
along the edge of the swamp, bobbing and 
bouncing along until they were close by 
the upper end of Long Pond that shim¬ 
mered and gleamed in the frosty night. 
And there, somehow, Black Brother lost 
her. 

Black Brother was very tired; he was 
also very hungry, and he was very badly 
scared. He had never been so far away 
alone before, and he turned to race back 
home before anything happened to him. 
And then, there came to his nose the 
scent of a chicken close at hand,—oh, such 
a delicious smell! 

Now Blackie had been taught all about 
traps and poisoned bait that Mother Fox 



102 MOTHER FOX OF ROUXD-TOP 


could teach him. And he had learned his 
lessons well. But he was so hungry, and 
surely this delicious smell could not mean 
danger! He would just sneak up and 
find this chicken and then dash back to the 
Cave-House. It was not difficult to find 
the chicken. It lay right at the edge of 
the pond in some rushes and reeds. 
Black Brother smelled carefully and crept 
forward as slowly and cautiously as a lit¬ 
tle fox could. There was nothing to be 
seen nor smelled that spelled danger and 
he gave a quick grab at the chicken. 

And then,—oh, then,—what was this 
terrible thing that had him by the foot! 
Black Brother was caught in a trap at 
last! Tear around as he might, bite at it 
with his sharp teeth as much as ever he 
liked, the trap would not let go, and 
Blackie cowered down in a miserable little 
heap. All night he had to stay there, so 
cold and frightened that he was a very. 



BROTHER IS CAUGHT IN A TRAP 103 


very unhappy little fox! Once he heard 
Bobby Lynx cry way up on the mountain 
and he was too scared even to whimper. 
It seemed as if the night would never 
end. 

When the sun came out bright and clear 
and had driven Jack Frost away from 
the mountain, a boy and girl came eagerly 
around Long Pond. They had set this 
trap, hoping to catch some animal whose 
fur was valuable. When they saw poor 
frightened Blackie, they did not know 
just what to do, for they had never seen 
an animal that looked like him. He looked 
like a fox, yet all the foxes they had ever 
seen were red! He wasn’t a wolf nor a 
bear nor a lynx,—of that they were sure. 
He must be a fox, they decided, and so, 
trap and all, they put him into a large bag 
that they had brought with them, and car¬ 
ried him home to the farm. 

It was a very fortunate thing for 



104 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


Blackie that no one was at home that day 
but the boy and girl and their mother. 
All the others had driven off with loads of 
wood to the town many miles away. Now 
Blackie, no doubt, thought that it was the 
most unlucky day in his life,—but it was 
not! It was a very fortunate one, indeed! 
Had the men been at home, they would 
have known at once what kind of a fox he 
was, and just how valuable was the fur 
coat that he had on! And that would have 
been the end of Blackie right then and 
there! But the boy and girl did not know 
and their mother did not know, so they 
decided to put him in one of the smaller 
chicken coops that had been used earlier 
in the season for a mother hen and her 
brood. 

Across the slats in the one open end of 
the coop they nailed chicken wire, then 
placed the coop on a large, flat stone out¬ 
side the spring-house so that he could not 




feSji,;-;: 


THERE, RIGHT BESIDE THE COOP, WAS 
HIS MOTHER! PAGE 105. 






BROTHER IS CAUGHT IN A TRAP 105 


dig out. Then they left him. Poor 
Blackie! One good thing they had done, 
they had taken the hurting trap off of his 
foot and that did not pain so badly now. 
But oh, how he wished he could go back 
to the Cave-House, and if only he could 
see his mother once more! Luckily for 
Blackie, Watch had gone with the teams, 
so that he did not have him to worry 
about. And fortunately, too, the farmer 
had been detained in town and was very 
late getting home. Oh, it was, indeed, a 
verv lucky dav for Blackie! 

The wind rose and a few flakes of snow 
fell, and Blackie curled up in a little ball 
at the end of the coop. He was sound 
asleep when a familiar smell crept to his 
little nose. He was wide awake in an in¬ 
stant and there, right beside the coop, was 
his mother! What they said to each 
other, no one knows, but he probably told 
her exactly what had happened. Mrs. 



106 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


Fox was very nervous. Any moment 
she expected that Watch would bounce 
out at her. But he did not come. She 
smelled all around the coop and poked it 
with her nose. There did not seem to be 
any way in which to get Blackie out. 

Then she poked it again and ,—it 
moved! She poked some more,—it slid 
off the big stone. Once more she pushed 
and it rolled down a little bank and up¬ 
set. In the bottom of the coop was a 
small, broken board. Mother Fox pushed 
with her long nose,—slowly,—slowly. 
The half-rotten board bent inward. 
There was a sharp crack, and Mother Fox 
had Blackie by the head, pulling and 
yanking and tugging and dragging at the 
poor little fellow until, with a final pull 
that hurt him very much,—he was out! 
Blackie was free! 

Away they went! No time for chickens 
or geese now! They had a long, hard trip 





BROTHER IS CAUGHT IN A TRAP 107 


ahead of them, for Blackie was limping 
and Mother Fox knew that they could not 
go straight home. That would leave too 
plain a trail! So over the Ridge and up 
the stream they went and clear around the 
dear, old hill to its farther side, and then 
more wading and more climbing mitil 
they came, at last, safely to the Cave- 
House. 

Poor Blackie was so lame and tired that 
he just flopped right down on the floor of 
the den and was asleep long before 
Mother Fox ceased washing him. 

How did Mother Fox learn where 
Blackie was? Only Mother Nature can 
tell us that and it is a secret that she re¬ 
fuses to explain, although many, many 
wise men have tried to make her tell it. 

Nor do we know how she taught her 
children so well, nor how she learned to 
cover her trail and do all the wise, wonder¬ 
ful things that she did do. No one knows. 



108 MOTHER FOX OF ROUND-TOP 


But that the little foxes learned their les¬ 
sons very well, we surely do know because 
they escaped every trap and snare set for 
them, except that one time. And the lit¬ 
tle foxes,—big foxes now, with homes of 
their own,—and dear, old Mother Silver- 
Tip still live on the simny slopes of old 
Round-Top to this very day. 

And Grandfather Black Bear and 
Bobby Lynx still live there and Mollie 
Rabbit and all of her children. But most 
interesting of all is a new family that has 
moved in at the foot of the Hill, at the 
end of Long Pond, where they are 
building a wonderful town all of their 
own. 

These little animals are masons and 
wood-choppers and engineers and house¬ 
builders and they are very, very odd look¬ 
ing little fellows with broad, flat tails and 
great, yellow front teeth. Oh, they are 
very interesting, indeed! If you would 



BROTHER IS CAUGHT IN A TRAP 309 


like to know about them and of their 
queer homes, we will tell you in another 
book which we shall call “ The Busy 
Beavers of Round-Top.” 


THE END 




The following pages contain questions 
with space for the answers to be written 

by 


The owner of this book* 


111 





WHAT DID MOTHER FOX LOOK LIKE 1 


WHAT KIND OF HOMES DO FOXES 
HAVE? 


133 










































NAME TEN ANIMALS ON ROUND-TOP 
THAT MOTHER FOX LIKED FOR FOOD. 


HOW DID BLACK BROTHER’S FUR DIF¬ 
FER FROM THAT OF HIS BROTHERS 
AND SISTERS? 


115 



















WHEN DO FOXES SLEEP AND WHEN DO 
THEY HUNT I 


WHAT ANIMALS ABE THE ENEMIES OF 


THE FOX FAMILY? 




















WHY ARE FOXES CALLED “WISE”! 


WHAT CAN A FOX DO TO HELP IN COV¬ 
ERING UP ITS TRAIL! 


319 





















WHAT LESSONS DID THE FOX CHIL¬ 
DREN HAVE TO LEARN* 


WHY DO ALL THE ANIMALS LEAVE 


PETER PORCUPINE ALONE * 


































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